MELIORES

Family Spirit | A Passion for Work | Simplicity | Presence | In the Way of Mary

SACRED HEART COLLEGEEDUCATION WITH HEART THAT KNOWS NO BOUNDS

MARIST OBSJ U N E E D I T I O N 2 0 1 4

The Meliores, and our Alumni, now have their own logo! The logo has been designed by Kgomotso Mautloa, a 2003 Sacred Heart College graduate. The significance of the M in the logo is the word Meliores, which has more than one meaning than simply the word ‘better’. It can mean ‘more fully’ or ‘to make better’. Meliora can be translated to mean ‘good’, ‘honest’, ‘brave’ or ‘kind’. Furthermore, the M represents the word Marist, which connects us as a famiily. The opening gates behind the M, traced from the school’s beautiful main gate, implies that our alumni are always welcome.

Kgomotso and his team at Green Robot Design (greenrobot.co.za) created a truly timeless icon, one that shows true insight.

“The most exciting and probably most thrilling part of my career as the Creative Director at Green Robot Design is that I create new work every day, no one day is the same. That’s what gets me up in the morning,” said Kgomotso, giving us a glimpse into his studio life, “the endless opportunity to give art life and to craft work that people will see and hopefully enjoy pushes me to do better“. See our July 2013 edition for the full story.

Family Spirit | A Passion for Work | Simplicity | Presence | In the Way of Mary | Family Spirit | A Passion for Work | Simplicity | Presence | In the Way of Mary

Who's Who

ALUMNI COMMUNICATIONSEllen Howell

LAYOUTNaomi Meyer

THANKS TOthe staff, parents, learners and the alumni who contributed to this edition of our Meliores Publication.

MELIORESMELIORES is owned and published by Sacred Heart College. The authors and contributors reserve their rights in regards to the copyright of their work. No part of this work may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the written consent of Sacred Heart College.

Family Spirit | A Passion for Work | Simplicity | Presence | In the Way of Mary | Family Spirit | A Passion for Work | Simplicity | Presence | In the Way of Mary

01 | A note from the Head of College01 | A note from the Alumni Manager

02 | Bright Young Minds

Science and Mathematics Festival | 02A Fun and Inspirational First Term | 03

Well Done! | 04

17 | Reunions Reunions | 17

Save the Date! | 18

06 | Connecting with Alumni4 Generations of Letebeles’ | 07

Ken Haycock | 08Howard Thomas | 09

Nicole Glover | 11

Contents

13 | Celebrating our AlumniAlumni at our School | 12

Alumni in the News | 13

Messages from our Team

A Note from the Head of CollegeEvery time I am asked to write the introduction to this magazine, I have been made aware of yet another remarkable alumnus of this College who has or is doing something amazing. True to the nature of our College, the amazing thing is that he/she is not always doing what one would consider newsworthy. Many of our alumni are quiet heroes who work without recognition or expectation of reward to ease the suffering or improve the happiness of their fellow human beings.Clearly in our magazine we like to showcase the good news stories and excellent work done by past students. In these pages you will find the tale of people you attended school with and scratch your head and say “I never realised that that shy person at the back of the class would go on to do that!” We invite you to enjoy these stories, and share in celebrating these achievements with us and encourage you to send us your story and share your successes and achievements with us. Some of you may feel like I do, that my greatest achievement is that I have a wonderful daughter. As parents we can surely ask for no more than that. It is clear to me as this magazine has evolved that we are only beginning to scratch the surface of the remarkable impact that Sacred Heart College has had on the lives of people who were privileged enough to be students here. For 125 years, we have touched lives so that those influenced by us can go forward to touch the lives of others. On Heritage day, we shall come together as a community and we invite you to join us on that day to celebrate our heritage with us. It is going to be the most amazing party.

A Note from theAlumni ManagerThe Meliores is filled with stories of individual achievements, of generations that have had a lifelong connection to Sacred Heart College and people who have become active citizens in our community.

Sacred Heart College celebrates 90 years in Observatory, and 125 years since the opening of the school in Koch Street. This lets me reflect on the rich heritage of the school, all the traditions and milestones that the school has achieved over the years. When I started at Sacred Heart College in 2010, the College was celebrating Scared Heart Day, a tradition that has been with the school a long time and - I am sure - brings back memories. The day starts with a mass followed by various activities. The one thing that every learner looks forward to on Sacred Heart Day is the sticky bun and coke that everybody gets.

In its 125 years of existence, the school has gone through radical changes, from an all boys to a co-educational school, to the first multi-racial school in Johannesburg. Exciting physical changes like a new, colourful Science laboratory, a tech-savvy Media Centre, and simple improvements to our car park have brightened the façade of the College, and are changes that you, our Alumni, have been part of. Please celebrate our heritage with us.

I would love to hear from you, so please keep in touch: ellenh@sacredheart.co.za.

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SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS FESTIVAL

Sacred Heart College Junior High School held its third Mathematics and Science Festival on Monday 14

to Wednesday 16 April. Professor Graeme Bloch from Wits and the renowned Doctor Ridwan Mia, one of Sacred Heart College’s celebrated alumni, opened the Festival.

“It was a privilege to have speakers of such calibre at our Festival,” says Doctor Danelle Badenhorst, the High School laboratory technician. “The Festival was fun and educational. There was a variety of exciting workshops, demonstrations and presentations, and the Science projects of our learners were judged and put on display.”

Learners enjoyed an array of exciting activities and lessons, such as model building with Willie Viljoen (the Manager of Technolab at the University of Johannesburg), and a lecture about Paleo fossils by Dr Ian McKay from Wits. The complexity of Mathematics was introduced by Professor Peter Dankelmann from the University of Johannesburg; Robyn Carnie from Wits presented a Chemistry show, and Tony Voorvelt from Wits brought a

telescope to the school for solar observation.Clive Reid from Snake City introduced the learners to his charges, and Jenni Wanting from D.A.R.E (Drug Assessment Rehabilitation and Education) covered the detection and addiction of drugs, as well as dealing with peer pressure.

Sacred Heart College learners had the unique opportunity to build their own telescopes with the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement (SAASTA). SAASTA took the learners on an Observatory tour, which exposed them to different concepts of Science and Technology under the main themes of astronomy, astrophysics and optics, through different exhibits and displays.“The Mathematics and Science Festival is a wonderful learning opportunity,” says Lamorna Cantin, High School Science teacher. “It provides an opportunity for learners to participate in different experiences provided by experts. The topics presented are an extension of the curriculum. The Festival is an enriching event which can spark a lifelong interest in the Sciences.”

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A FUN AND INSPIRATIONAL FIRST TERMHouse Plays

“Drama has transformed this school,” reflected Father Dryden at morning line-up in February, as LLC students announced

the coming House Play Festival. “There was a time when learners did not have the confidence to make announcements up here. Now it’s something they are really good at.”

If the 2014 House Plays were anything to go by, Sacred Heart College is bursting at the seams with talent and confidence. Traditionally written, and directed, by Matric drama students, these four plays brought together the performing talents of the High School in two days of original work. It was performed on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th February.

“You are not the leaders of tomorrow – you are the leaders of today.” This line from one of the House Plays, written by matric students, Dheshanth Govender and Keith Wittelson, reflects the mood of a new generation of matric students contemplating the prospect of voting in May this year – a mood that is sombre, contemplative and expressed with a characteristic Sacred Heart College blend of humour and thoughtfulness.

From xenophobic attacks to class divisions, prison conditions to the nature of God and religion, the themes of this year’s plays were like a barometer reading of the youth of the nation. With a sharp eye for characterization, each of the young directors brought to the stage a medley of characters: gogos, street hobos, BEE bling teenagers, criminals, a gambler with Tourettes syndrome and a journalist with a mission.

-Tamara Schulz , High School Drama Teacher

Judge Sachs Inspires

The Catholic Institute of Education invited Grade 11 learners from Sacred Heart College to the 10th Annual Bishop

Hans Brenninkmeijer Memorial Lecture. Seven Grade 11 learners attended a lecture by Judge Albie Sachs at Constitution Hill, where he had been a judge, appointed to the Court by former President Nelson Mandela.

Judge Sachs spoke about a Constitutional Court decision (The Christian Education Case), which he was responsible for writing. The Christian Education Case focuses on the balance between the rights of the child and the right of a school to religious observance. Judge Sachs inspired the Sacred Heart College learners in the way he communicated the constitutional principles of the country in an uncomplicated way. He shared his insights and hope for the future of the country.

As an inspirational South African figure, who has received 14 honorary degrees across four continents, and who was involved in the freedom movement in the 1950’s, Judge Sachs explained to the Sacred Heart College learners the history of our country and his hopes for its future.

“The Grade 11’s expressed how lucky they were to meet and listen to one of the original architects of the constitution of our country,” said Ms Claire Baker, one of the teachers who attended the lecture with them.

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WELL DONE!

Primary School

Shanti Adam has achieved four firsts at the SANESA Ekurhuleni Qualifier 2 on Saturday 5th April. She participated in the 9 and younger category. In three of the four classes, she had exceptionally high scores and positive comments from the judges.

Kayle Wykes has won the U9-10 golf tournament at State Mines with a score of 35. The SA Kids Gauteng U11 Golf Team, captained by Kayle, were victorious in the FS 2014 Challenge Tournament that took place in Bloemfontein on 22 and 23 March 2014. Gauteng won the tournament and Kayle was placed 2nd among the individual players.

Eight Sacred Heart College Primary School Girls were selected for Central Gauteng Gymnastics, level 1, 2 and 3: Shanti Adam; Sheena Nkamanakeng; Thalia Zimmermann; Ila Naidoo; Boipeloi Motsei; Shumikazi Radebe; Owethu Lurwengu and Unathi Thusini.

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High School

Sacred Heart College launched South Africa’s first Active Citizen Scholarship in 2013. The scholarship was awarded to Heri Bukanga and Tshepang Masuku. This year’s Active Citizen Scholarship was written on 15 March 2014. We had some great contestants, and are look forward to announcing the Active Citizen of 2014.

An education at Sacred Heart College does not begin and end with strong academics, but also involves a serious commitment to society.

The High School swimming team was kept busy with the annual Midmar trip, Inter-Catholic Gala, Inter-High Gala as well as a number of general meets. The team performed extremely well finishing 1st over-all at the Inter-High Gala. The team was placed 1st and 2nd in the League Galas. The Midmar trip was a big success with all 27 swimmers completing the event, including Miss Cindy Niken, the High School Sports Coach. Congratulations to Luke Botha, Chandre van der Merwe and Enrique Alves for qualifying to compete at the Prestige Gala after finishing 1st at the Inter-High Gala. Congratulations to Trent Correa for being awarded a blazer for swimming.

Earlier on in the season, the cricket team took part in the Inter-Catholic tournament, finishing 3rd overall. The team also played in a number of fixtures in the lead up to the ISSA Cricket trip. A squad of 13 left for the ISSA Cricket trip in early March. The boys took the Spirit Award for the second year in a row. Well done to Dheshanth Govender for having been awarded a blazer re-award for Cricket.

The basketball team was so strong in numbers that an Under 14, 16 and Open team in the Boys competition was introduced. The girls, led strongly by Mrs Masondo, fielded an Under 16 and Open team. The highlight from the boys’ season was the St John’s Basketball Tournament where they finished with their best position ever, 9th out of 32. An amazing effort considering the tournament is one of the biggest school boys competitions in South Africa. Both girls and boys teams travelled to the ISSA Basketball Tournament where the boys made it to the quarter-finals and the girls finished with 2 wins.

Sacred Heart College hosted three consecutive Inter-Catholic Soccer and Netball tournaments on 10, 17 and 24 May. Overall, 46 soccer teams, 18 Netball teams and over 800 learners in total participated. The tournaments were a huge success.

Sacred Heart College came 6th and 7th in the under 15 Netball Tournament. The U/15 boys were placed 5th, and the girls tied for 3rd place in the Soccer Tournament.

Sacred Heart College finished in 3rd place in the U/13 Inter-Catholic Soccer and Netball Tournament.

WELL DONE!

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Sacred Heart College's alumni are diverse, driven, fascinating, fun, and never afraid to be different. We have interviewed

some of our past students from all walks of life.

Here are their stories.

CONNECTING WITH

ALUMNI

The Letebele family has been associated with the Sacred Heart College since 1934. Ephraim Letebele was employed

in the year 1934 when the school was still known as Marist Brothers Observatory, back when the school was still an all-boys boarding school. Ephraim is remembered as a humble person, who was trained as a chef. He cooked for the boys at the boarding school, and for the Marist Brothers.

Ephraim retired in 1974, and was succeeded by his son, Joseph Letebele, who joined Sacred Heart College in a permanent capacity in 1961. Joseph has seen many generations of learners pass through our gates, and has witnessed the changes in our country and in our school. Joseph has had a hand in building the Senior Primary School; he laid tiles on the concrete floors of the Senior Primary School and of the Old Chapel Theatre. In 1979, Joseph assisted with the building of the main entrance to the College, followed by secure and commodious parking for the teachers. He levelled the cricket field and constructed the beautiful stone stairs leading up to the field. Today, Joseph applies his mind and expertise to the school’s woodwork. He has restored the old Marist Brothers’ dining table and furniture, which can be seen in the Habits Coffee Shop. “Woodwork is my passion”, says Joseph. “I left the Teacher Training College and continued

to Pax Training College in Pietermaritzburg to pursue my passion, to become a carpenter.”

Joseph Letebele’s daughters matriculated at Sacred Heart College, Margarete in 1989, and Elizabeth in 1993.

“I feel proud to have had a long association with the school”, says Elizabeth. “Looking back, it was a good journey, growing up with the school and seeing all the changes.” She fondly remembers the rickety school bus named Gertie and the abundance of trees in the Primary School in the early 80’s.

“From the High School days not much has changed in terms of sports activities, except for basketball which has recently been introduced,” Elizabeth reflects, “I remember that our group wanted to change the summer uniform for the High School, from the grey skirts to grey trousers, but we were not allowed to”. A couple of years later Elizabeth recalls seeing the girls wearing grey trousers, and thought with pride that she had fought for that. Both Margarete and Elizabeth’s daughters’, Koketso and Kgomotso, are currently in Grade 11 at Sacred Heart College. Their nephew Khumo and Margarate’s son Tebogo also attended Sacred Heart College. Tebogo matriculated in 2012.

4 Generations of Letebeles'

07 |

Ken Haycock and Mike Pilot were talented musicians who started a band called The Tidal Wave whilst at Marist

Observatory. Ken played the base guitar, Mike was the vocalist and played the lead guitar. Ken visited Sacred Heart College a few years ago and chatted with Frank Hollingworth, the High School Science Teacher. After the discussion, Frank documented Ken’s story:

Brother Rudolph, the stern German Brother who was headmaster and nicknamed ‘Fritz’ by the boys, wrote on my last school report, “Stomps his feet and bangs his banjo…matric pass doubtful.”

Happily, I did pass my matric and several years later, my class mate Mike Pilot and I decided to stage our successful Storm Power Circus for a ‘one night only’ performance at Sacred Heart College. Our group, The Tidal Wave, had four top 20 hits on Springbok Radio, including a number 1 with the song Spider Spider. You could say we were on the crest of a wave at the time and we had engaged a four-piece brass section, scantily clad Go Go Girls – led

by none other than Suzie Evans - and guest artist Dave Mills, who was also very popular at the time with his number one hit Love is A Beautiful Song, plus we had a celebrity comedian, Barry O ‘Donahue – all of which was unprecedented at the time for a SA pop group.

The school hall was packed to the rafters, (Mike and I made good money that evening!) with Dave Mills singing the Tom Jones hit that knocked Spider Spider off the number one spot – Delilah. Suzie had choreographed a very seductive dance routine for this song, much to Dave’s delight I’m sure. I suddenly spotted Fritz, also a Sacred Heart College alumnus, in the front row with his expensive camera taking many pictures. At the end of the number he approached me, nodding his head and smiling broadly. “Ja Haycock. Ja,Ja,” he said.

Goodness me, recognition at last!

Class of 1965Musician

Ken Haycock

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“The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there,” wrote LP Hartley. I walked out through the gates of Marist

Brothers College Observatory after my last Matric exam fifty years ago. But I have been through so many pasts that by now I should be the most travelled person in the world.

In junior school, I lived through the Fifties - that stifling period after the Second World War when people dived lemming-like into normality after the turbulent six years, in which nearly 20 000 South Africans died. Our parents’ idea of normality

was a tiny suburban home, a small car like a Fiat Toppolino, a Messerschmitt or a Goggomobil. Our mothers wore hats and little lace gloves when they went to town to shop at John Orr’s, sip tea and eat scones with a ritualistic gentility.

Frozen food and supermarkets would only come in the Sixties, so we would go home to string beans, shell peas, and strain the mielie rice.The Sixties only started after school, when I horrified my parents by becoming a stereotype of the South African hippies, living in a Parktown squat plastered with psychedelic posters and paying for my university fees by building sets at the Alexander Theatre in the afternoons.I knew I was destined for the entertainment business after I was in the chorus of HMS Pinafore in the school hall in 1956, with a cast of boys playing girls, and the immense orchestra of Drummond Bell at the piano.The Sixties were a rebellion against the claustrophobia of the Fifties, but that really was the only purpose - rebellion against the Fifties.

By the Seventies, I was a stage manager, touring large musicals like Fiddler on the Roof, and had quite forgotten HMS Pinafore, but not forgetting words that Brother Benedict once had said to me, “Thomas, you’ll do well. But you’re going to have to do it on your own.” What was he, some kind of fortune-teller?The Seventies was a new past, a new foreign country, ten years of good times and bad taste. By then I had forgotten school days.

Class of 1963Entertainment Industry

Howard Thomas

09 |

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How could one remember the regimented discipline when I was turning the world upside down totally subsumed in the glories of show business. I was production manager on movies that were so bad, that they made vast profits and will never be remembered.Then came television and I was a producer at the SABC making programmes that were even worse than those made today, but were showered with awards because there was only one channel, and that was only on the air for five hours a night.

By the Eighties I had spent fifteen years in entertainment with shows to be proud of numbering fewer than the fingers on one hand. I must admit, that as danced the night away to the disco beat wearing bell bottoms, and embroidered shirts, driving in Triumph 2000, and smoking Perilly’s Private Blend, that I sometimes wondered if it was me that had frittered my life away, or my school education, as both were polar opposites.The Eighties must have been the same as the 1920’s - the frantic hard living that every social culture seems to go through as it hears the bells of the era’s death knell growing louder every day.

But then came the middle of the Nineties, having lived through the Götterdämmerung of the Eighties, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end Apartheid South Africa, two divorces, and changes in jobs that were so frequent they read like that night’s “What’s on TV Tonight”. I used to send out so many CVs, that I seriously

considered selling advertising on them.I was walking down the street one day, when I grew up. It was quite sudden. I left home an immature youth, and got to the café as an adult. I started gathering together the paper scraps that came from a foreign country - my past. I found that I had started a pupils’ school newspaper, a music appreciation society, and other things I had completely forgotten. I drove back to the school one day. I was going to go in, but my legs wouldn’t take me nearer than the pavement on the other side of Eckstein Street. There were girls wearing my blazer, some new buildings, changes to the playing fields. It was like looking at a fading postcard of some place I had visited as a tourist nearly forty years before.

Now I live in a new world. It’s called the present. It’s the first real one I have ever experienced.I have the Internet, and social media. I do rural media development. I jet around Africa doing business in something that digital technology has moulded out of theatre, radio, TV, newspapers, museums, advertising and design, and squeezes through everyone’s Samsung, or Apple (depending on which side you are on).I develop job creation in the rural areas, working in unpolluted air, and with people unpolluted by the toxic culture of metropolitan South Africa. My perspective of and experience in the world is now so varied, that 12 years spent in the hands of the Marist Brothers seemed like a logical beginning. Anyway, it makes sense to me.

WHAT YOU DON'T LEARN AT VARSITY

I began first year medicine at Wits with a certain mind-set that I would meet people in my class, meet other students around the campus,

and eventually become acquainted with quite a few of them. I would form new relationships and friendships discovering all the ideas and information that they have to offer and, at the same time, discover my own ideas and opinions.

During my first year I slowly came to the realisation that it is slightly more difficult to make new friends than I had thought, and because of this I spent most of the year with one friend named Yona. I also came to the realisation that multiracial groups of friends are not very common around campus and difficult to find except for a few. I realised that most students in my class feel their respect needs to be earned (even from lecturers), and that their manners and courtesy were left at home. Studying was done independently as looks of judgement were passed if one person was better than another and most motives appeared to be marks and not education. Greetings of kindness and smiling in passing from classmates were scarce; acknowledgement not much more frequent.

This experience was proving to be more of a challenge, and second year did not change much.I started to think about what could make this university so different from the school that I went to. I thought back to how my school, Sacred Heart College, influenced me to have certain expectations of people, of myself, and

of society. I discovered that it began when I was in Nursery School – sprinkler day. Amidst all the wet, little naked bodies of all of us running around and playing we learnt to be comfortable in our own skin, learnt that we don’t need to be embarrassed to show who we really are and accept that everyone else is doing the same. This results in people who genuinely respect themselves and respect the people around them regardless of status, race, or how you met. The next step was in Primary School, where we learnt how to work by ourselves and in groups. We were taught to look at other people’s strengths and our own strengths and use them to our advantage to learn in school, and to learn about each other. This results in individuals who find passion and drive in what they want to do and gives them a foundation to grow and learn from other people and from themselves; it makes them want to encourage others to do the same and help them through the process. The final step was High School, where we became the leaders of the Sacred Heart College family. We learnt to treat everyone with courtesy, to greet fellow students and teachers in passing with a smile and warmth and occasional hug. We learnt that relationships and family were one of the most important, if not the most important, aspects of life. We learnt not only to look past race, ethnicity and culture, but to embrace it. We learnt to laugh with one another, and not at each other.

Thinking back to my school days has made me realise that from Sacred Heart College came my best friend in first year varsity, Yona, who was my best friend when I was four years old; from Sacred Heart College came a group of old friends whom I see on campus and join for a picnic on the lawns and connect with as if we had seen one another yesterday; from Sacred Heart College I learnt to treat people with respect and kindness as if they are my brother and sister; from Sacred Heart College, I learnt the true meaning of education and how to think for myself and formulate my own opinions about what I have learnt.

Sacred Heart College will always be my home and family.

Nicole Glover

11 |

Class of 2011Medical Student at Wits University

ALUMNI AT OUR SCHOOL

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“ What form of self expression do you prefer?”, Jimmy LeRoux, the Thai Chi artist and Sacred Heart College alumnus, asked

the Primary School learners during a 3 day retreat, on the morning of 9 April. Some of the answers included painting, dancing, and basketball.

S impiwe Tshabala, CEO of Standard Bank and an alumnus of Sacred Heart College, addressed the High School learners

during an assembly on 21 May. He taught the learners that key contributors to success are the power of faith, courage, self confidence, hard work, compassion and humility. A true encouragement to Sacred Heart College learners!

Sacred Heart College Junior High learners were feeling inspired after the renowned Doctor Ridwan Mia addressed them

on issues regarding education in South Africa, and the story of Pippie Kruger. “I look forward to seeing more greatness come out of Sacred Heart College in the future”, said Doctor Ridwan Mia about his old school.

Our Grade 9 learners raised awareness around cancer and challenged the High School to have their hair sprayed to

raise funds. Even the teachers got involved. Cindy Niken, a 2004 graduate and a coach at the Sacred Heart High School Sports Department, made her mark by getting her hair sprayed and assisting with hair spraying. The Grade 9 learners raised R1 600 for cancer.

Class of 1948

Edward Joffe

Edward Joffe has published a new book which is certainly worth reading. The book covers what South Africa was really

like for whites in the decades that preceded the emergence of what (one hopes) will be the “rainbow nation”. Before Mandela’s Rainbow is a gripping, refreshingly candid, real-life memoir.

Edward’s Marist connection began at Koch Street before he became a boarder at Observatory. Whilst a student at Wits, he went on a NUSAS tour of Europe and, on visiting the Vatican, he met and discussed Marist ‘Obs’ with Pope Pius XII.

After dropping out of university, he fumbled through numerous ephemeral jobs including journalism which brought him into contact with truly idiosyncratic characters. During his quest for some challenging creative career, his sanity was preserved by joining amateur dramatic societies such as the RAPS and the Mercury Players but his acting ambitions were thwarted by his inability to remember his lines,

so he decided to concentrate on directing. In 1955, a producer, Eddie invited him to write and direct his first film, Tent of Stars, shot on a 7,000 mile safari incorporating the only known motorised attempt to scale Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain.

Unable to come to terms with the ugliness of apartheid and the Victorian mores of most white South Africans, he escaped to Britain expecting movie moguls to clamour for his services but, despite a personal introduction to, and a job offer from, the legendary producer Sir Michael Balcon, Joffe was stymied by the film trade union’s refusal to grant him membership, forcing him to again settle for odd jobs, such as a television critic for The Stage newspaper and a roadie for pop impresario Robert Stigwood. Undaunted, he enrolled at the London School of Film Technique. His graduation film about Soho’s iconic coffee bars led to his becoming the first South African born director, producer, writer in ITV, the UK’s infant commercial channel. His eclectic international award winning career encompassed nigh on 4,000 films and television productions of every genre.

Joffe relished his working relationships with innumerable top characters and lashings of famous nonentities. He considers himself privileged to have worked with three of the UK’s most popular comedians of the 20th century - Norman Wisdom, Bob Monkhouse and Tony Hancock. In 1968, he produced and directed Hancock’s last series. The outstanding comedian’s tragic death in Eddie’s Sydney home inspired his first book, Hancock’s Last Stand, which was highly acclaimed for its style and candour and was used in World Productions’ screenplay about Hancock’s private life. One of the founders of Britain’s Directors Guild, Joffe remains a member of BAFTA, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

ALUMNI IN THE NEWS

13 |

Class of 1991Elinor Baiocchi

Elenore Baiocchi's mission was to run the Old Mutual's Two Ocean's

Marathon 21 in order to raise money for the Rachel Swart Fund, which helps people who cannot run, or even walk. She managed to raise R25 000 for an electric wheelchair that can cost anything from R16 000 to R20 000, depending on the accessories required by a specific user.

Class of 1991Thoko

Modisakeng

Ellen Howell received a touching email from Thoko. It warmed her

heart because this is what Sacred Heart College is all about: Thoko remembers how fast her body was growing throughout her school years and how humble her finances were. Her family could not afford new school uniforms every year. She benefited greatly from the system that Sacred Heart College had of buying second-hand school uniforms and books. Thoko is donating her old school uniform to learners who are faced with the same body growth and financial challenges she had growing up. Thoko took the time to come to the school to donate the clothing.

Class of 2002Didi Ogude

T he St.Gallen Symposium, “The Clash of

Generations” was held from 7-9 May 2014 in Switzerland. Didi was invited as one of 200 Outstanding Leaders of Tomorrow to attend. This annual Symposium is the world’s premier opportunity for intergenerational and intercultural debate – run by students. Each year, more than 600 top decision-makers from the fields of business, politics, science and society come together with 200 of the world’s most talented young personalities to engage in an open, self-critical debate about the fundamental challenges of our time.

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ALUMNI IN THE NEWS

GF Jooste Hospital in the heart of Cape Flats had a phenomenal reputation as the training ground for skilled doctors

and so I was thrilled when I was offered a community service post there. After two months on the wards, I moved to the casualty unit. I joined a team of four doctors and it didn’t take long for me to figure out what was expected of myy colleagues and me.

Sure, we were required to save lives, but the real measure of our success in the unit was our ability to assess and manage patients quickly, refer them elsewhere, and create space for more to come in. This task, however, was not as straightforward as it seemed, because as hard as we were working to offload patients, the people we were referring them to were as reluctant to accept them. Every day, we engaged in endless haggling with medics, surgeons, gynaes, psychiatrists and, in moments of desperation, social workers, to justify why they needed to take over the care of these patients. No one wanted the additional burden on their already overflowing workloads.

We worked 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, followed by a three – or four-day break. The four-days-three-nights stretch wasn’t too bad, as the bulk of that consisted of relatively normal working hours from eight in the morning to eight in the evening. It was when I worked four nights in a row that I really felt it, because those nights always fell over the dreaded weekend.

Those weekends were particularly horrific. Stabbings, gunshot wounds, car accidents, rapes, beatings…..All manner of violent trauma

made its way into the emergency unit, most of it alcohol related. The injuries themselves were gruesome, but what shocked me more were the perpetrators – friends, lovers, neighbours, family. It was very seldom the proverbial hooded stranger in a dark alley. These were people who knew each other, lived together, drank together and, on weekends, they hurt each other. The wheels came off over the Easter long weekend. The trauma was relentless and, by Monday morning, there were so many patients in the emergency room that we didn’t know who had been seen and who hadn’t. When the specialist arrived for the eight o’clock ward round she must have seen the strange way we were behaving. We had long since passed exhaustion and had arrived at that giddy state of surrender, knowing that it was futile to keep trying to catch up. She was an internal medicine specialist who probably hadn’t seen surgical and trauma patients in years but, that morning, she graciously helped us to assess all the patients and make sense of the prevailing chaos.

It was telling that I sometimes volunteered to go to the Thuthuzela Care Centre based at GF Jooste to access rape survivors brought there by the police. This particular Thuthuzela Care Centre has been in operation since 2000 and provides comprehensive care for rape survivors away from the chaos of the casualty unit. The women are spared the indignity of having to wait to be attended; their cases are prioritised so as not to further victimise them and to begin the process of restoring their dignity.

Class of 1990

Maria Phalime Doctor Turned Award-Winning Author

An insert from her new book: Postmortem, the Doctor who walked away (A True Story)

(insert from the Star Newspaper)

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The circumstances I was confronted with were tragic but at least the environment at the centre was pleasant. Thuthuzela means comfort in Xhosa and, in a way, being there offered me some comfort and respite from the pressuresof casualty. Here I could take my time, take a proper history and truly connect with the patients.

I wore the same pair of running shoes throughout my time at Jooste. Over the months they became increasingly blood stained; I made no attempt to wash them. When I arrived home from work, I would put them in a plastic bag, where they would stay until they were needed again. I planned to burn them ceremonially at the end of my community service.

The onslaught at Jooste was not without its casualties. Two of my colleagues contracted TB – a combination of being physically run-down and the overwhelming exposure to the infective organisms. I constantly feared sustaining a needle-stick injury. I knew that, in theory, the chances of contracting HIV in this manner were low but, with the level of the infection we were seeing, I still lived in fear.

The dangers we faced inside the hospital were not only limited to the infections we might contract. We were working in a crime – riddled community and the weapons we sometimes found on patients and the profanities they hurled at us were reminders that the aggression and violence that lay just beyond the hospital gates could so easily be brought inside.

I began to feel unsafe, fearing that one day that world would breach the relative security of the hospital’s confines. My anxiety sometimes got the better of me, even bordering on paranoia. On the nights when I left the hospital after dark ,I would deliberately exceed the speed limit as I drove down Duinefontein Road, heading for the N2 highway that would lead me back home to the southern suburbs. I would press my foot down on the accelerator pedal of my little Toyota Tazz, pushing it to the limits of its 1,3 litre engine.

When I reached the highway, I reached the speed cameras to catch me, and I constructed an elaborate plan in my mind about how it would all unfold. I imagined myself getting caught repeatedly until the accumulated traffic

fines attracted a court summons. At my court appearance I would refuse to pay, stating that the dangers associated with my work necessitated such reckless driving. I hoped to draw attention to the conditions under which we worked, to be a mouthpiece for embattled doctors across the country so that we no longer needed to fear for our lives.

I never did get caught. Though I didn’t become physically sick, the environment still took its toll on me. Day after day I fought to pull people back from the brink of death, with more success than not. But the endless tussle with the angle of death gradually sapped much of my initial enthusiasm. I became irritable; I grew impatient and short with patients. Their neediness got to me. I felt that I couldn’t provide what they needed, that what they were demanding of me was far more than I was willing to give...

If this insert intrigued you, you can purchase the Doctor turner Award-Winning Author’s alarming, true story in stores and online: Postmortem, the Doctor who walked away.

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SACRED HEART COLLEGE IS HOSTING FOUR REUNIONS THIS YEAR: The Class of 2004 is celebrating their 10 year reunion. They will be having a picnic on the fields of Sacred Heart College on 27 September 2014. If you are interested in attending, contact Ellen Howell at ellenh@sacredheart.co,za.

The Class of 1994 is planning a reunion to be held at Sacred Heart College on 4 October 2014. If you are interested in attending, contact Ellen Howell at ellenh@sacredheart.co,za.

The Class of 1984 is planning a reunion to be held at Sacred Heart College on 20 September 2014. If you are interested in attending, contact Ellen Howell at ellenh@sacredheart.co,za.

2014 REUNIONS

INVITATION TO THE ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY FIVE REUNION

All of the Sacred Heart College Alumni are cordially invited to attend the Heritage Celebration Reunion on 26 September at Sacred Heart College, starting at 18h00

and ending at 21h00.

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SAVE THE DATE!

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